AP

HEART FOR LEBANON OFFERS HELP AND HOPE THROUGH WINTER OUTREACH
Lebanon (MNN) — Winter storms are making life increasingly difficult for vulnerable communities in Lebanon. Heart for Lebanon’s Camille Melki says, “We’re talking about refugees who have come across from Syria and Lebanese who have lost their homes in the Hezbollah-Israel war.” Thousands live in tent communities or makeshift shelters. These structures offer little protection against excess rain, cold, or flooding. When temperatures drop, people face serious risks of hypothermia. Certain people are more at risk than others. “It’s the children, it’s the elderly, it’s the sick people who pay the highest price in any conflict. How much more with bad weather?” Melki says.
Displaced Lebanese are used to groups giving them help in exchange for a vote. “There are a lot of organizations that reach out to the Lebanese with a political motivation,” Melki explains. “Therefore the refugees are taken aback by the kindness offered. It speaks volumes. Heart for Lebanon offers help and hope through its winter outreach. Believers share the Gospel as they deliver blankets, mattresses, and warm clothing. It makes them wonder, ‘Why would you care for our needs?’ Our Muslim brothers and sisters didn’t even attend to our needs.’ Heart for Lebanon’s support is different,”  Meli explains. “Our motivation is only the love of Jesus Christ, so we come out openly, boldly sharing the Gospel without any conditions attached to the gifts that we give.”

CHRISTIANS IN NIGERIA LIVE IN FEAR AMID KIDNAPPINGS AND  KILLINGS
Despite action in late December last year by the US forces in launching airstrikes on IS-affiliated militants in Nigeria , and the promise of the Nigerian President to do all to rid the country of these Muslim terrorists, they continue their killing and kidnapping of Christians. Innocent Yakubu, a community leader in the north-western State of Kaduna, said Fulani herdsmen invaded his village killing and kidnapping Christians. “It has thrown the entire community into fear, sorrow, and uncertainty,” Yakubu told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “The entire community remains traumatized as we continue to search for safety that no longer exists.”  Yakubu said the village has suffered repeated attacks by Fulani assailants for many years that have claimed lives and destroyed livelihoods. Sunday Audu, another area resident, said herdsmen in late January and early February also attacked another four villages in the area. Yakubu stated that while Christians are giving thanks for the recent release of the 166 Christians kidnapped in Jan this year, they “ now live in constant fear because violence has become a recurring nightmare. Our land is bleeding, our hearts are broken and our communities are losing hope.”
At a hearing of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on Feb. 4, religious liberty advocates spoke of recurring killings, abductions and mass displacement in Nigeria. Committee Chairman Chris Smith recommended the US to address the “culture of denial” by Nigerian officials of the  mass killings of Christians by Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Fulani militants; to urge Nigerian authorities to prosecute perpetrators and prevent attacks in Christian communities; and to monitor and curb influence by China, Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which are exacerbating instability in Nigeria. A petition by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) before the United Nations on genocide against Christians in Nigeria received wide acceptance and within 16 hours of its filing, more than 517,000 signatures had been gathered, with the target of 750,000 signatures expected.
More Christians were killed in Nigeria than in any other country from Oct. 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2025, according to Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List. Of the 4,849 Christians killed worldwide for their faith during that period, 3,490 – 72 percent – were Nigerians, an increase from 3,100 the prior year. Nigeria ranked No. 7 on the WWL list of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. Reports have just come in that on 4th Feb, armed extremists killed 162 people during attacks on two villages in western Nigeria, in one of the deadliest assaults in recent months. [Source: International-Morning Star News and the Daily Declaration]

TWO PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN NURSES ACQUITTED OF “BLASPHEMY” AFTER FOUR YEARS
Two Christian nurses who were accused of “blasphemy” in Punjab, Pakistan, in April 2021 have been acquitted. Maryam Lal (then 52) and Newosh Arooj (then 19) were accused by a senior doctor at the Civil Hospital in Faisalabad of committing “blasphemy” by removing from a cupboard a sticker that had a Quranic text written on it. In the aftermath of the “blasphemy” accusation hospital staff staged a demonstration demanding legal action against Maryam and Newosh. The demonstration was joined by extremists who threatened to kill both women. Maryam was attacked and injured with a knife before the pair were taken to safety by police. The decision to acquit was made on 29 November 2025 on the grounds that the complainant had failed to substantiate the charge. The trial began on 10 July 2021 and lasted for more than four years. During this time, Maryam and Newosh remained on bail, but were unable to work and faced constant threats.
Pakistan’s notorious “blasphemy” laws are often used to make false accusations in order to settle personal grudges. Christians and other religious minorities are especially vulnerable, and the lower courts usually favour the testimony of Muslims, in accordance with sharia (Islamic law). Accusations of “blasphemy” frequently trigger mob violence and even killings. [Source: Barnabas Aid]

FIVE CHRISTIANS BEHEADED BY ISLAMIC STATE IN NORTH KIVU, D R CONGO
Islamic State is celebrating the beheading of five Christians in the Lubero District of North Kivu, north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Local media sources report that the five were among at least 25 civilians murdered by fighters from Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP). In another district, homes, a church building and a health centre were destroyed by Islamic State fighters. In a social media post, the terrorists declared “praise be to God” for the killings in the village of Musenge on 24 January.
Many villagers have now fled the area, adding to the growing total of people in Christian-majority north-eastern DRC displaced by ISCAP and other armed groups such as the M23 movement. “How can we understand that fighters have been operating freely for over two weeks in the same area, attacking village after village, without any effective response from the security forces?” asked a community leader in one of the villages attacked. “The population feels abandoned to its fate,” he continued, “exposed to massacres while official speeches multiply without any visible action on the ground.”    ISCAP (formerly known as the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF) has claimed the killing of more than 800 Christians in north-eastern DRC since its violence against Christian communities escalated in December 2024. [Source: Barnabas Aid]

– compiled by Guido Kettniss